For Jennifer Porter, thinking inside the box led to inspiration: Two years ago, the mother of two elementary-age schoolchildren stashed a leftover box from a gingerbread decorating party in the trunk of her car, thinking to fill it with donations for area food banks. “Having it in the car kept it top of mind,” says Porter, who is the founder of the local baby apparel and accessories brand Satsuma Designs. “By picking up extra goods on sale during grocery trips, we filled it within a month.

I have been a vegetarian my whole life for cultural and animal rights reasons. I am a food lover as well. This may seem contradictory to some, but I have never felt like I was missing out on anything. And Seattle, out of all the places I have ever lived, is one of the most diverse, herbivore-friendly and easiest places to find not only viable, but absolutely tantalizing meatless options. Stepping out of this vegetarian-loving metropolis, I decided to be spontaneous and do something absolutely crazy last week.

The rattle and whistle of trains have long provided a soundtrack for beachgoers at Golden Gardens, salmon spotters at the Ballard locks and sports fans headed to a game in SoDo. So it’s not surprising that so few bother to watch the trains anymore. But a closer look could reveal something new—about a dozen times a week, engines haul 100 or more cylindrical tank cars through Seattle. Each car is marked with a 1267 placard, the hazmat code for crude oil. Not just any old crude.

Must NoshJack’s BBQ Opened This WeekNearly six months after announcing that he was turning his famous Seattle Brisket Experience pop-up into a real-life restaurant, Jack Timmons has finally opened Jack’s BBQ. Go now for meat, meat and more meat.

"The Valley Fair" as it was formerly called started in the fall of 1900 as a means to help local agricultural and dairy farmers, miners, and manufacturers exhibit and sell their products in a community setting. The first fair took place on October 4th, 1900 and was only a three-day event. Admission for the whole event was just $1 per family! How times have changed.

Seattle Seahawks strong safety #23 Jeron Johnson is now in his fourth season with our Super Bowl-winning team. Johnson had eight tackles this preseason and was mic'd up during the August 16 Seahawks/Broncos game. (Skip to around 1:52 for his sound bites during warm-up and to see the former Boise State player's high energy--not to mention humor--on the field.)

Coming-of-age choreography, sci-fi ceramics, film noir, new memoirs, kinky boots and the great society—pick your poison in one of the categories below for this season's most impressive arts events, plus the new arts venues that are popping up all over town. VISUAL ARTSDANCE